The
origins of the handscroll format lie in the ancient texts
and documents of China. From the Spring and Autumn period
(770-481 BC) through the Han Dynasty (206BC-AD 220), texts
were chiefly written down on slips of bamboo or wood. These
narrow strips were then bound together side-by-side with cords
to form a series that could be rolled up. From the Eastern
Han period (25-220), the use of paper and silk became more
common, and these materials were mounted to form handscrolls
following in this traditional format. Up until the T'ang dynasty
(618-907), the handscroll was the principal format for texts.

When works of painting
or calligraphy are mounted in the horizontal handscroll format,
they are glued to a wooden roller (mu-kun) at the left end
to form an axis around which to roll the scroll. At the beginning
of the mounting (i.e., the right end), a wooden stave (t'ien-kan)
serves as the outer end support. On this is attached a silk
cord (tai-tzu) and a fastener (pieh-tzu), which are used to
secure the scroll after it is rolled up. At the back of the
scroll attached to the stave is a protective flap of heavy
silk (pao-shou) that also serves as decoration. On top of
this flap is a title label (t'I-ch'ien) that allows identification
of the work without unrolling it. Originally, the labels on
ancient scrolls were mostly inside, and the frontal section
of silk or paper, known as the "heaven (t'ien-t'ou),"
was very short. However, from the Yuan (1279-1368) and Ming
(1368-1644) dynasties, the label gradually came to be placed
outside, and the "heaven" became longer, from which
developed a space for writing the frontispiece (yin-shou)
and thus making for a complete format. The title of the work
or an inscription is often found here in seal or clerical
script, and to the left of the title would be the painting
itself (hua-hsin). Handscrolls can be as short as ten centimeters
or as long as several hundred, or even thousand. Furthermore,
most handscrolls contain only one painting, but several short
ones can be mounted together one after another. To the left
of the painting, sections of colophon paper (pa-chih) provide
space for connoisseurs and collectors to express their admiration
or record other information. Vertical strips (ko-shui) often
serve as boundaries to separate the sections of the scroll
(such as the painting, preface inscription, and colophons).
Since the Six Dynasties period (AD 222-589), the handscroll
format has developed into a standard form of mounting, but
with much room for variation as each generation seeks new
twists on tradition (see the accompanying diagrams for the
most common types).

The height of a
handscroll is generally about thirty centimeters but can reach
fifty or sixty, which is known as a large-mounting handscroll
(kao-t'ou ta-chuan). Because the width of handscroll paintings
is greater than the height, compositions usually unfold gradually
from right to left. Now, for the sake of convenience during
display, a large section or the entire scroll is unrolled
at once. In the past, however, the proper way to view a handscroll
was to unroll with the left hand and roll with the right at
the same time, thereby examining one section at a time. The
part on view was always that which could be comfortably opened.
This intimate and consecutive method of appreciating works
differs from the "all-at-once" one of viewing hanging
scrolls or album leaves. Artists have taken advantage of this
unique feature of the horizontal scroll by adapting subject
matter, such as by encompassing events from different times
in the same composition for a dramatic effect. With the handscroll
format, a world of Chinese painting literally unfolds before
the eyes of the viewer.